Navigating Paradox, Reality Bubbles, & Multiple Worldviews with VR

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Marilyn-SchlitzDr. Marilyn Schlitz is a social anthropologist, consciousness researcher, and co-author of the books Consciousness & Healing and Living Deeply. Her anthropological work has been at the frontier of researching how different cultures use various indigenous practices to invoke mind-body interactions for the sake of healing, and she’s come up with higher order frameworks to describe consciousness transformations from spiritual practices. She’s starting to look at how to invoke states of awe & wonder within VR, and whether this will be able to catalyze collective shifts in consciousness.

Strider VR is an Intriguing New Omnidirectional Treadmill Solution

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Image courtesy Pathbender

Strider VR uses a novel approach to omnidirectional treadmill design, using a rotatable ball array positioned above a traditional linear treadmill, combined with a Microsoft Kinect 2 sensor. The system is currently available as a development kit from German company Pathbender.

‘VRChat’ Anecdotes and Dealing with Harassment & Tolling in Social VR

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gunterGunter S. Thompson has been hosting VR meetups in VRChat for the past three years where he will give guided tours through the latest additions to the VRChat metaverse, and he also hosts a live talk show every Tuesday called ‘Gunter’s Universe.’ I had a chance to catch up with Gunter at SVVR about two months after VRChat launched on Steam on February 1st where we talked about highlights from his social VR adventures, the challenges of dealing with harassment and trolling with VRChat after it’s public launch, and hanging out at the most popular bar in the metaverse, which is called ‘The Great Pug’.

EVE: Valkyrie Now Supports Oculus Touch as a Gamepad Alternative

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Image courtesy CCP Games

CCP Games have rolled out a small ‘2017_R3.1’ update this week, enabling work-in-progress support for Oculus Touch. As described on the EVE: Valkyrie website, this attempts to map the gamepad controls to the buttons, triggers and sticks of the Touch controllers, rather than using motion.

HTC is Giving Away a Vive to Celebrate The International Dota 2 Championships

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If you’ve yet to hop on the VR train, here’s a shot at scoring a free HTC Vive system and some swag from the 2017 International Dota 2 Championships. This giveaway is open to those in North America, Europe, and Taiwan.

‘Star Citizen’ Devs Affirm Eventual VR Support, Say New UI is Designed With VR in Mind

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Star Citizen may be the world’s most ambitious Early Access project (and quite possibly the next textbook example of Development Hell). For those still holding their breath, the company has recently affirmed that VR support is still planned as an eventual feature, and the game’s developers say that a new UI design is made with VR in mind.

‘Cat Sorter VR’ Hopes to Capitalize on Untapped Demand for Virtual Cat Sorting

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Independent game developer and publisher Pawmingo Games has revealed Cat Sorter VR, an absurd game about rebuilding ‘defective’ cats. It will be playable at CatCon 2017 (naturally) in Pasadena, CA this weekend, and launches on Steam and Viveport on August 29th.

Oculus to Talk “Breakthroughs in Spatial Audio Technologies” at Connect Conference

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Image captured by Road to VR

Oculus Connect 4, the company’s fourth annual developer conference, is set for October 11th and 12th in San Jose, California. There, Oculus will share with developers some of its latest research and developments, including what’s coming to the company’s VR Audio SDK.

NFL Refs Using STRIVR’s VR Training Platform to Prepare for New Season

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Image courtesy STRIVR

The NFL continues to maintain its strong relationship with VR technology, now employing the STRIVIR platform to train some officials. According to a report by SportTechie, the virtual reality training company has been working with the NFL’s Officiating Development Programs for the past nine months, presenting game scenarios in a VR headset from a referee’s perspective to supplement the limited opportunities for real-world practice.

Avatar Creation with Morph3D & Social VR Anecdotes from Chris Madsen

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chris-madsenCustom avatars in social VR add a lot of fidelity of identity expression and creative flair in applications like VRChat or High Fidelity. Morph3D is a custom avatar solution that offers a number of free avatars within VRChat, but they also have a custom tool where you can customize your own virtual avatar. I had a chance to catch up with Chris “DeepRifer” Madsen, Morph3D’s head of VR/AR at GDC where we talked about some of the reactive avatars that they’re working on. 

Coldplay to Livestream ‘Head Full of Dreams’ Concert on Gear VR for Free Next Week

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Image courtesy Live Nation, Samsung

Ever wanted to go to a Coldplay concert? If you own a Gear VR headset, you’ve got a free ticket for the VR livestream of the band’s ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ performance next week.

‘Tron’ Star Jeff Bridges Thinks ‘Tron 3’ Should be the “first virtual reality movie”

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Speaking on an Entertainment Weekly radio show to be aired on August 15th, actor Jeff Bridges, star of Tron (1982) and sequel Tron: Legacy (2010), suggested that a third Tron feature should be “the first virtual reality movie.” Posted in a short entry on the Entertainment Weekly website, writer Clark Collis explained that he was prompted to ask about Tron rumours by Bridges’ new collaboration with Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski in upcoming movie Only the Brave.

‘Rez Infinite’ Gets Surprise Launch on PC Today With VR Support and 20% Discount

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Happy day for Rez (2001) fans—with no prior announcement, the modern remake, Rez Infinite (2016), launches today on PC with optional support for both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. In addition to a 20% launch discount which prices the game at $20 for the first two weeks, players will also nab the Digital Deluxe DLC package for free.

Google is Exploring Ways to Let You Animate Your ‘Blocks’ Creations

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Image courtesy Google

Google’s team at Daydream Labs have been prototyping ways of animating objects and characters in Blocks, the company’s recently released VR modelling tool. In a recent entry on the Google Blog, senior UX engineer Logan Olson describes how it could give users the power to “create expressive animations without needing to learn complex animation software.”

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